Chris Renaud

Chris Renaud (born December 1966) is an American designer, storyboard artist, director, producer and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short No Time for Nuts, which featured the character Scrat from the computer-animated Ice Age films. His most popular work is the Despicable Me franchise, including Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, which he co-directed with Pierre Coffin. Along with Coffin, he also co-created and lent his voice to the Minions from Despicable Me. Life and career Chris Renaud was born in 1966 in Baltimore. At age 15, he moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania when his father, who worked for Bethlehem Steel, was transferred to their corporate headquarters. Renaud has said he had mixed feelings with the move, saying it upset him but it was also one of the best things in his life because it showed him "that there was a great, big world out there". He was the artist for the high school yearbooks and newspaper and had aspirations of creating comic books. He graduated Parkland High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1985 and attended Baum School of Art in Allentown, where he received a $1,000 scholarship. After graduating from Syracuse University with an illustration degree in 1989, Renaud began work as a graphic designer in the sports entertainment industry. He has created logos and mascots for NFL Properties, the NBA, and Foot Locker. After working as a designer and illustrator for a variety of publications and agencies, Chris began drawing and writing comic books. Working for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, his projects included illustrating Marvel's Starfleet Academy and pitching the story concept that evolved into Batman: Cataclysm which depicted a devastating earthquake hitting Gotham City. This yearlong tale across all Batman-related comics resulted in increased sales and visibility for the renowned character and set up the acclaimed "No Man's Land" storyline that followed. As the production designer on the Disney Channel's The Book of Pooh, Renaud transitioned into the world of children's television. Since that groundbreaking project, he has been able to design virtual sets and puppet characters for Bear in the Big Blue House, LazyTown, Curious Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation. With It's a Big Big World, which aired from 2006 to 2010 on PBS, he took the lead in visual development and design of every aspect of this Emmy-nominated children's program.